Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Has $5.05 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,693 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,510,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,250 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 150.1% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $237,000. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $883.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,517,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,015. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $875.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $821.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The company has a market capitalization of $391.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.